Online Video Taking Off

Internet monitoring firm comScore reports that the number of internet users watching video online grew an impressive 18% between October 2005 and March 2006. Viewers watched an average of 100 minutes per month, including advertising and non-advertising video. In March, 42% of all internet users watched video on an entertainment site; 33% watched via a portal. Drivers of online video include:

steadily increasing broadband penetration (now about two-thirds of internet users), along with decreasing fees per gigabyte of bandwidth;

more experimentation with video by advertisers and major content sites;

phenomenal growth in “social network” sites like YouTube (38 million visitors in April, up 1200% over six months); and,

push by major content sites and portals to increase the volume of video advertising inventory.